India's Hidden Slavery exposes contemporary slavery in India among the 250 million-strong Dalit community. Once known as Untouchables, the Dalits form the lowest layer of India's hierarchical system known as "caste." Dalits are routinely oppressed and abused as modern-day slaves: in bonded labor, the sex industry, temple prostitution, manual scavenging and other brutal forms of exploitation. The plight of the Dalits is little known in the West and their situation contrasts starkly with the widespread perception of India's current economic and tourist boom. Below the surface is a society still wracked by caste divisions, with millions suffering and held hostage to a social structure that reinforces segregation, poverty and injustice.
The hour-long documentary film, shot in villages and cities across India in late 2006 and early 2007, portrays extraordinary scenes of Dalit exploitation, with first-hand testimony of Dalits facing bonded and coerced labor and sexual exploitation. This is combined with expert analysis by prominent advocates for their cause, including contributions from former Prime Minister V.P. Singh, Dalit Freedom Network president, Dr. Joseph D'Souza and leading Indian political scientist, Dr. Kancha Ilaiah. Dalit experts and commentators alike appeal for concerted action by the Indian government, assisted by the West, to address the whole system of caste which for centuries has caused such suffering. Since this suffering continues unabated today, the film concludes that the tragic plight of millions of Dalits is certainly one of today's most pressing human rights issues.
India's Hidden Slavery includes a trailer and the menu enables sections to be shown on their own for small groups, study or discussion purposes. |
